Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA)’s Book Week is fast approaching, and Story Box Library has you covered in more ways than one! Whether you are looking for story reads to bolster your library events, or activities to encourage story response and text engagement from students and young patrons, Story Box Library’s growing digital collection and dedicated activities get children excited about storytelling, reading and learning, during Book Week and beyond.

Encourage young kids to participate in the Story Box Library Reading Challenge in four steps:

  1. Watch the story read.

  2. Learn more with activities and resources.

  3. Play with Activity Time.

  4. Borrow and discover more!

Download the pack of CBCA Book Week Reading Challenge resources here, including a checklist to keep track, fridge cards, bookmarks and certificate of completion.

1. Watch our CBCA shortlisted titles

Featuring diverse storytellers in unique locations, explore shortlisted stories below from the Early Childhood, Picture Book, Eve Pownall and New Illustrator categories, or find CBCA stories in our digital collection here. 

2. Learn more with activities & resources.

Designed for educator and library staff use, our CBCA Book Week activities encourage deeper text engagement, via engaging activity tasks that can be done in a classroom setting, library or remotely.

Find a range of book response tasks that provide lower, middle and upper primary age children with creative and engaging opportunities to explore, analyse and connect with the themes, characters, language and literary features with stories.

Download our free CBCA Book Week resources, including:

  • A range of downloadable and printable Activity Cards for students to select from, linked to our digital collection of the shortlisted titles

  • Printable Story Response Templates to record their activity responses in

  • Teacher notes with activity overview, instructions and links to Australian Curriculum

3. Play with Activity Time.

Designed to support the themes of each story and encourage creativity and play in kids of all ages, Activity Time ideas are available for all subscribing public libraries and schools, and their communities. With At Home access, families can even find stories and activity ideas from the comfort of their home. Find Activity Time instructions via the ‘Activities’ tab on each story page.

4. Borrow and discover more!

Story Box Library connects educators, librarians and families with a world of stories by extending your physical collection, getting young readers excited about reading and making learning fun. After watching CBCA Book Week shortlisted stories, young readers and students can borrow the books at their public library or school library, or insert a bookmark review for the next borrower to discover.

Coming soon: Keep an eye out for our two CBCA short films, to be released during Book Week, announcing the main Book of the Year Award Winners and the Shadower’s Choice Award.